Thomas Ward
Thomas Jason Ward is the protagonist and narrator of Joseph Delaney's children's book series The Wardstone Chronicles. Throughout the series he is often referred to as 'Master Ward' or 'lad' by his master John Gregory. Tom is a seventh son of a seventh son and because of this he has special abilites and is able to sense 'the dark'. As a seventh son of a seventh son, Tom was apprenticed to the local Spook, John Gregory and is his thirtieth and last apprentice. As well as being a seventh son of a seventh son, Tom is the son of the old god Lamia and as a result has inherited various special abilities. Tom has turned out to be Mr. Gregory's best apprentice yet but, as the series continues, it is evident that there is a 'slither of darkness' inside him, making him susceptible to the dark. Biography Early life Tom was born and raised at Brewer's Farm, a small farm located near Topley. Tom has six brothers, as did his father, making him a seventh son of a seventh son. Before becoming the Spook's apprentice, Tom Ward helped his father and his oldest brother with work on the farm, while his other brothers had already set out to pursue their own trades. When Tom attended school at the local church, the priests noticed he was left-handed. Because of that he was beaten, after which his mother, Mam, decided to take him out of the school to teach him herself. Hangman's Hill As a seventh son of a seventh son, Tom often saw and heard what others didn't; this made him especially sensitive to supernatural elements. Close to the farm, just outside the North Pasture was a hill upon which many civil war soldiers were hung, called Hangman's Hill. As a result of this, there were a number of lingering ghasts, which would frighten young Tom. Eventually, when it became too much for Tom, Mam was forced to silence them, a feat that is considered largely impossible by Spooks. 'Becoming an apprentice' Eventually, when Tom was 12, by Mam's doing, he was taken on by John Gregory, the Chipenden Spook. Their first stop was at Number 13, Watery Lane where Tom was tested to spend a night in the supposedly haunted house. Soon afterwards Tom meets Alice Deane, when collecting his master's provision. Tom is at first wary of Alice due to his master's warning against women wearing pointy shoes (and women in general). Ordeal with Mother Malkin Despite his misgivings against Alice, Tom is persuaded to give Mother Malkin (a witch bound in a pit in The Spook's garden) three cakes - one at midnight each night. Unbeknownst to Tom, these cakes contain human blood which will make her stronger. She only needed to eat two of these cakes to build the strength required to escape her pit. Tom has to try and recapture Mother Malkin without the aid of The Spook. He manages to 'kill' her, but is then captured by Bony Lizzie and the abhuman Tusk. He is imprisoned in a pit in the ground, adjacent to the bones of The Spook's last apprentice Billy Bradley. After meeting the ghost of Bradley, he manages to persuade Alice to release him from the pit. Shortly afterwards, after a close pursuit, The Spook manages to kill Tusk and bind Bony Lizzie in a pit. Tom returns home to visit his family at Brewer's Farm, where Snout the butcher is busy slaughtering the pigs. Unbeknownst to Tom, Mother Malkin has survived and is now 'wick', meaning that she is no longer in proper human form, and is almost mushy. In this state, she possesses the pig butcher and tries to kill Tom's Family. Tom manages to drive her out of the butcher's body, and she is then eaten by the pigs as she tries to escape, ensuring she can never return. Tom then takes Alice to a relative's house in Staumin near the Fylde Coast, to prevent her from returning to Pendle. Continued Apprenticeship Soon after Tom's ordeal with Mother Malking ends, normality returns and Tom is back to being taught to be an apprentice, mainly focusing on the study of Boggarts. Tom was accompanied on many jobs, experiencing the binding of all types of boggarts. One day the Spook is found too ill to fill his duty, so Tom is tasked with binding a boggart alone. The boggart in question is a Ripper at a church in Horshaw, who is in the process of killing a priest who is The Spook's brother. Tom proves successful in binding the Boggart, but is unable to prevent the death of the priest. Priestown and dealings with the Bane The funeral of the priest is held at Preistown Cathedral, in the town of Priestown on the River Ribble. The Spook decides to attend, not only to pay respects to his brother but to also undertake a task that he has previously failed to carry out - destroying the Bane. During his efforts to prepare to enter the Bane's dwelling place in the Catacombs beneath the cathedral, his cousin (who is a priest that has been corrupted by the Bane) betrays The Spook, and he is locked up for the Quistor, who denounces him as a Warlock. The Spook is sentenced to burning, alongside other falsely accused witches. Tom is forced to enter the catacombs in order to release The Spook from prison. However, when he arrives in the prison, The Spook has already been taken for questioning, and so he is unable to free him. In the meantime however, he is able to free Alice, who is also a prisoner of the Quistor. On their second attempt to retrieve The Spook, The Bane visits Tom, Alice and Andrew (The Spook's locksmith brother) in their dreams. Tom is able to resist, but he awakes to find Alice at the 'Silver Gate', the only barrier preventing The Bane from escaping. She has made a deal with the Bane. In return for allowing it to be released, The Bane promises to help her, in return for her blood. The Spook and the other prisoners are taken up nearby Beacon Fell to be burned at the stake. Tom and Alice journey to the Fell, and use the Bane to secure The Spook's freedom. Tom and Alice take The Spook to the farm, and Tom's Mam heals The Spook. Tom, The Spook and Alice journey to Heysham, the burial site of many of the Segantii, or the Little People, to track down the person who managed to bind The Bane in Priestown. This person is Naze, who, Like Tom and The Spook, is the seventh son of a seventh son. He tells them that he too had to sign a pact with The Bane. If it was ever to be freed, and then return to Priestown, it would forever be bound in the catacombs, where it could be killed. The three return to Priestown, with the knowledge that, if The Bane was to be killed, the energy released would be so great that those present would almost certainly be killed, forcing The Spook to insist that Tom remain outside. Tom does not feel comfortable with this, so he enters the catacombs anyway to assist. Once in the catacombs, Alice once again summons The Bane, who is then killed by Tom whilst it is drinking Alice's Blood. Tom is killed by the energy released by the death of the creature. Alice is distraught, so uses her magic to ressurect him. The Spook is disgusted by this, so upon their return to Chipenden resolves to bind Alice in a pit. Tom uses knowledge of The Spook's love - a Lamia witch called Meg Skelton - to force him to let Alice go. The Spook allows Alice to stay, in return for copying books and teaching them more about witches The Spook's Secret Anglezarke Morgan and Necromancy Golgoth and the Round Loaf The Battle of Pendle Hill Training with Bill Arkwright Morwena Finding Bill Arkwright The Fiend's Bargain The Fight on the Marsh The Banshee Witch Isle of Mona The Shaman The Buggane and the Grim Cache Defeating Bony Lizzie Personality Tom Ward is known to be very loyal to those he forms an alliance to, although this loyalty is tested when innocent lives are at risk, such as when he betrays Mab Mouldheel. His loyalty to John Gregory is also put at risk when he refuses to go back with him to Chipenden when his mother asks him to go with her to Greece, stating that since she gave him life - he cannot refuse her wishes. Tom has also shown extreme bravery, such as when he willingly goes after the child that Bony Lizzie has captured, and when he continuously goes after the main sources of trouble in each book, even though he knows that each time he is at risk of losing his own life. Tom's sense of duty to the County is what has molded him to be the character he is, as he willingly sacrifices his own soul to the Fiend when the chance to win is offered. Even though both his family and friend's have been threatened and near death, Tom does not hesitate to refuse an offer of saving them if the result was suffering for the entire County, or even people in general. He always considers the outcome of the deal before agreeing to it, or refusing it. He also displays some amount of sympathy towards certain witches, as seen when he spares both Grimalkin's life (Attack of the Fiend) and Bony Lizzie's life (Rise of the Huntress), even though in both books they were in the pursuit of his own. Physical Appearance Although the book doesn't describe Tom directly, it is shown that he has short dark brown hair and green eyes. It has also been hinted that he is of average height for his age. Throughout the books, Tom receives a couple scars from battles he has fought, such as when the water witch Morwena took hold of his ear, nearly tearing it. When battling Bony Lizzie, Tom also received a vertical slash directly under his hairline. The most prominent of his scars though are the finger-nail indentions left by Alice from the first book, marking him as hers. The scars left by Alice protects Tom from being taken over by other witches such as Mab Mouldheel. When Alice returns from the dark after being seized by the fiend, she recognizes the mark allowing her to understand that she's in the real world. However, this scar vanishes after Alice turns into a malevolent witch after falling in love with Lukastra. It could have vanished due to the fact that Alice no longer sees Tom as hers. In the Spooks Revenge, Tom receives a scar after a fight with Lukastra running from his eye across his cheek. The scarring is helped by Grimalkin but she could not get rid of all the scarring leaving a faint white line. Powers and Abilities List of Powers *'Mediumship': Tom has the natural ability of all seventh sons, of seventh sons to speak and hear the dead, and spirits past. *'Magical Skill': Although being a spook is considered a craft, all spooks are capable of performing feats of magic, but are forbidden to do so because all the dark can sense when someone uses magic. For example, Tom used a mirror to communicate with Alice. *'Linguistic Ability': Tom can read and write Greek, and although he has trouble with Latin, he is a fast learner. *'Marksmenship': By the fourth book Tom can whip his chain around a post 9 times in a row, eventually being able to get 10 times in a row in later books. *'Sensing': Tom can sense the presence of a witch or who is a witch more accurately than his master or other spooks. *'Will Power': Tom displays great will power by withstanding the temptations of both The Fiend, The Bane, Golgoth, and the other old gods. *'Tainted Blood': Tom's blood can't reveal any secrets about himself to other creatures of the dark. For example, The Ordeen didn't know who Tom was even though he offered it his own blood. *'Premonitions/Immitations of Death': Tom can smell death on a person; the stronger the smell the closer the person is to death and the fainter the scent the farther away they are away from death. Death takes on the smell of flowers. Tom inherited this ability from his mother. *'Time Manipulation': Tom can stop or slow the flow of time in such a way that he can catch a knife in midflight. For example, Tom caught a knife thrown at him by Grimalkin while he was running away from her in The Spook's Battle. SPOILER ALERT: Tom also used his time manipulation powers to bind the Fiend. *'Immunity': Tom, along with other seventh sons, of seventh sons are immune to long range sniffing of witch's and are immune to the Siren's song *'Poisonous Blood': Tom's blood is poisenous towards gods, it was proved when Siscoi the Romanian old vampire God tried to suck out his blood. The god and his avatar immediately died. Tom's mother later told him that his blood was like poison to gods. The Spook's: Blood (Lure of the Dead) *'The Hunter': This gives him the ability to be able to know where his enemies are. Mam made sure that Tom discovered this power early so that he could track down the beings who stole the Fiends head. However, this is not always reliable as it was shown in the Spooks Revenge when he couldn't find where Alice and Lukastra was hiding. He believed this was due to their whereabouts being cloaked by magic. Mam described Tom as the hunter of the dark. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son powers As the seventh son of a seventh son Tom has gifts such as being able to see and interact with Ghosts and Ghasts, and being hidden from the long-sniffing of witches. Powers inherited from Mam Tom has the ability to "squeeze" time, similar or the same way that the Fiend can, however to a lesser extent, probably because of his lack of experience with the power. He could possibly, although definitely not yet mentioned or confirmed, have inherited other lamia powers from Tom's Mam, Lamia herself. It is a possibiliity, and has been mentioned by Delaney, that Tom could have a 'feral' form as aposed to his current domestic form. Such a form could only be discovered if Tom spent several moths away from any humans, though he doesn't have a scaley spine on his back. Physical Abilities Tom, being trained by the Spooks, is fairly skilled in using, and fighting with, his staff, silver chain and his recently found, Destiny Blade . However not much is revealed about his physical abilities apart from that, when he fought Grimalkin (a practice fight), in The Spook's Destiny, using both his power to manipulate time and his physical abilities, he won over, and nearly killed, the witch assassin in the fight. Bill Arkwright also taught Tom to swim, which many people of that day could not do. Relationships Alice Deane There are many hints that Tom has feelings for Alice Deane, and that they are in fact in love, but just don't know it yet - hinted when Alice almost dies and Tom was more upset than even when his father died. Tom first meets Alice in The Spook's Apprentice when she saves him from a group of boys about to beat him up. She then asks for a favour to be completed at some point, and Tom agrees. When the Spook is away, she asks him to feed Mother Malkin three cakes, two of which Tom feeds her before he catches on, which helps her get free. Tom is later captured by Bony Lizzie, but Alice then helps him escape. When the Spook sends her to her aunt's, they stop at Jack's farm, where Tom and Alice defeat Mother Malkin. The two become close throughout the series, Alice seeming rather attached to him. He seemes to take a liking to her as well. There are also times when Alice has been known to get jealous if she thinks a girl is interested in Tom (Mab Mouldheel). Tom often shows great concern for her and has mentioned that he can't live without her. The two are also linked closely by a blood jar until The Spook's Destiny (Rage of the Fallen), where it is cracked and Alice is taken to the dark by the Fiend. At the end of the fifth book the two share their first kiss, before Alice leaves for Pendle. In the eighth book as Alice is being taken to the dark by the Fiend, Tom is filled with agony and admits the loss is even worse then that of his mam. In this moment he realizes his true feelings for Alice, and admits to himself that he is in love with her. In the Spooks Revenge, after Alice turns into a malevolent witch, she starts a relationship with Lukastra, a powerful mage who has used the Doomdryte to gain power, after the revelation of their relationship Tom decides against thinking of Alice Deane in such a way again, this especially heart breaking to Tom as it is mentioned that both Alice and Lukastra shared a bed. John Gregory WIP The Fiend WIP Family Mam Dad Jack James Ellie Mary unnamed uncle Friends, allies and enimies. Alice The Spook Bill Arkwright Mab Mouldheel Tom and Mab have a complicated relationship. Tom first meets Mab at the beginning of The Spook's Battle, where she claims to know where Alice is, when in fact she kidnapped Alice. She takes Tom to meet her sisters, Beth and Jennet. She tries to kiss Tom and make him her's forever, but Alice's brand keeps him safe. Later, he helps Mab get into Malkin Tower to steal his trunks, but Mab turns on him, so he then wakes up his mother's sisters with the "Kiss of the Moon". He then makes fun of Mab for not even ruling Pendle for a day, and then she says that she would help summon The Fiend. Tom has threatened that he would one day throw Mab into a pit as well, marking her as a partial enemy until the 6th book, when her help is needed by his mother. Their relationship is further complicated when Mab predicts and tells Tom about Alice's death at the hands of lamia witches, which he angrily rejects (later this comes true when a lamia witch seizes Alice and drags her down into the earth. Tom uses a dark wish to save Alice). When seeing Alice alive, Mab appears to be angry. Grimalkin Tom and the witch assassin of the malkin clan have a very peculiar relationship. Tom, being a seventh son of a seventh son, is a natural enemy of the dark, and vice versa. However, Tom and Grimalkin are considered friends as well as allies in the fight against the Fiend. Even though she once attempted to kill Tom, Grimalkin has saved his life on numerous occasions. She has now allied herself with Tom, the Spook and Alice in order to destroy the Fiend. She has currently him bound and is in control of his head, whilst the other three find a way to destroy the fiend forever. Grimalkin fears that, in the ordeal the four are in, not all of them will survive (she was scryed her death). Appearances * The Spook's Apprentice * The Spook's Curse * The Spook's Secret * The Spook's Battle * The Spook's Mistake * The Spook's Sacrifice * The Spook's Nightmare * The Spook's Destiny * The Spook's: I Am Grimalkin * The Spook's Blood * The Spook's: Slither's Tale * The Spook's: Alice * The Spook's Revenge * Spook's: A New Darkness * The Spook's Stories: Witches ** The Banshee Witch Trivia *His birthday is August 3rd, making his zodiac sign a Leo. *Although Tom fights against the dark and what it contains, he has used dark magic (with good intentions) on more than one occasion. *On more than one occasion, it has been hinted that Tom will become one of the strongest Spooks to ever roam the County, and possibly the world. This was his mother's "gift" to the County. *Since his Mam is Lamia (the original Lamia witch) he was technically affiliated with the dark since birth.Category:Characters Category:Introduced in The Spook's Apprentice Category:The Spook's Apprentice characters Category:Spooks Category:Male characters Category:Spooks' Apprentices Category:Apprentices of John Gregory